1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and method for providing dental services, and more particularly to a dental implant/surgical guide manufacture and/or planning system and method.
2. Description of Related Art
In providing dental implant treatment, a dentist often makes use of various dental surgical appliances and dental planning software. For example, an implantologist may place an implant in a patient's jaw to secure a replacement tooth. Dentists may fit and place implants, in an effort to replace missing teeth. Unfortunately, the process of providing dental implants accurately may require a series of steps to accurately plan using treatment planning software, order and manufacture surgical guides and accurately place the dental implant(s) and restorative teeth. This can lead to a significant amount of time and effort expended by both, the patient and the dental practitioner. For example, a practitioner may identify a need for a dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy at the first patient visit, and may have to schedule a second visit to properly assess the patient's jaw and teeth structure. At the third visit, the patient may have images and/or a mold of the mouth taken. The dental practitioner may then assess the acquired patient data and build a treatment plan. For example, the practitioner may determine which implant treatment options are best suited for the patient's long term oral health. Another patient visit may be scheduled to discuss these options with the patient before moving forward. Then, upon the patient's approval, a request for the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy may then be placed, the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy may then be manufactured, and the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy may finally be installed in a subsequent visit. Often, the dental practitioner may have to oversee coordination between various entities involved in the design and fabrication of the appliance/surgical guide. For example, the dentist may have to coordinate functions between the imaging center, dental laboratories, OMR Radiologists, implant manufactures, and treatment planning and dicom conversion companies, adding complexity to the process. Thus, the process of providing a dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy can be time consuming and fragmented for both the patient and the dental practitioner.
Moreover, the process of providing a dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy may be complicated by the treatment options available, or the lack thereof. For example, although the dental practitioner may have general expertise, they may not be an expert in a particular aspect of the treatment plan. In some instances, dentists may have to rely solely on their own limited knowledge when preparing a treatment plan, although they would prefer to consult with an expert. Further, while preparing a treatment plan, the dental practitioner may prepare the plan without having any feedback to assess costs associated with certain decisions in implementing the plan. For example, a dental practitioner may have to prepare a complete treatment plan and request a quote from an appliance/implant/service provider to implement the treatment plan, which can take days or weeks. In some instances, the requested plan may be too costly and the dental practitioner may have to modify the treatment plan and request another quote, repeating the process until the treatment plan and the cost are acceptable. Such an iterative process can be time consuming for both the dental practitioner and the patient. A patient may have to wait on the cost estimates before giving approval to move forward. In some instances, even with the initial quite established, the actual costs may exceed the upfront quote or estimate provided to the patient resulting in lost profits or embarrassment to the dental practitioner when they have to explain the situation to the patient.
Moreover, even where an acceptable and cost effective treatment plan is established, manufacture of the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy can be complicated due to number of steps and entities involved. For example, imaging centers, dental laboratories and component manufactures may all have some input to the manufacturing process of said appliances/surgical guides, although they may not have an effective means of communication. For example, they may communicate directly with one another, resulting in decisions that are revealed to some, but not all of the entities involved in the manufacturing process. Further, a lack of communication may slow the manufacturing process and make it difficult for the dental practitioner to establish when the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy will be ready. As a result, the lead time for manufacturing the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy may be increased significantly, and the dental practitioner may be left in the dark, not knowing when the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy will be ready for the patient. This may create scheduling difficulties, as the dental office can not schedule patient's visits that rely on the dental appliance/surgical guide for implant therapy being manufactured and ready for use by the patient.
Accordingly, there is a desire to provide a dental appliance/surgical guide fabrication and planning system and method that provides an efficient manufacturing process and provides feedback to the dental practitioner and all case partners to enable cost effective and efficient dental appliance/surgical guides for implant therapy as well as the ability to complete the process with fewer and more timely patient visits.